Water heater



@et H3, E936.- A. H. STRONG WATER HEATER Filed Dec. 5, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 W7@ @m u@ .1M /w U l figur/n ct. 13, 1936. A H. STRONG 2,056,989

WATER HEATER Filed Dec. 5, 1934 2 sheets-sheet 2 7 xNvENToR Patented Oct. 13, 1936 @met .z cisnes. (otite-i9) This.. i.hve.ht1eh .relates tv ...imprevements in ywater heaters, particularly Vadapted for domestic The primary object of my invention ist() pro- 5 lvide ayerysimple,compact, inexpensive and ef'- 'feetive Water heater.. 1.

Mereperteularlm in @heater of the character .dest-ribelli I aimtereduee the number ef parte; tonrednceuthe size oicertain'parts; and to pro- Yide ah hrhreredierreheemeht' and. disposition 0f eutemetie eehtrehmeehehiem for the heater. Ahether-ehjeetef my invention is. theprovisieh eiWeter-heatiheepperatus which may be readily applied t9 eXisthawater tanks Ywith j very;v little eapenseandwithout increasing the outside diameter thereof. ;`V

HOW the fereeena teeetherkwith Sueh other objects and advantagesvas mayihereinaiter appearor are incident to my invention are realized,

ingdrawingsv, v vherein--4 '1i gure v:l is aside `el evational Viewl of awater heater embodying 'my inventiomthe casingbeing partly in section to illustrate certain interior con- Struetiehs; A. v Figure2 is anenlag'ed plan section taken substahtiallyghthe ,line .2-2 effFigure 1 with a portionfoftheinsulating material omitted; Figure?, isa front elevational view with 'a por- -tion of the heater broken out to condense the heure;Y AFigure 4; is anenlarged elevational view,partly in section of-an automatic control mechanism v0 is illustrated in preierred form in the accompanyemployed in the heater; and

y j Figure' 5 is a' plan section'taken on the line 5-5 of'ligure 4.

- Referring tothe drawings,emy improved Water heater `comprises an upright water tank Aor storage vessel -6 having'. a cold-water inlet pipef1 and a hot water outlet pipe -connected thereinto;

a 'casing' 9 in spaced surrounding `relation to the tanl: thanl upright water circulating tube o r pipe I'U connected-at its lower end intothe lower portion of the water tank, as indicated at `I Ipand at .its upper endY intoV the upper portion of the I3 are located within the flue and combustion air is admitted into the lower portionV of the uegby means of an opening or openings I.`I 'in the bottom I8 ofthe casing; Additional air maybe admitted through openings I9 in the door 20 which is pro'- vided to give access to the burner, The gases of combustion" are exhausted from the ue through a top outletfopening 2l, f

' The flue I4, as best illustrated in Figure 2, com prises a metallic member 22 having Yan approximately semi-circular central portion123 and laterally extending portions; 24.] The, central' por.- tion 23is of such radius that adequateflu'e .space is provided around the water tube Illiand the lateral extensions 241jare so formed. that ilue spaces 25 are provided between, them. end the lwall of the water tank, AThe upright edge portions v'Mfotthese extensions Contact with the tank and the,membe1""22 is. held inpla'ce as by meansofmetal bands 21 adapted to`be tightened by bolts28. The inner wall of the. flue is defined bytheportion of thetank wall which lies .between 'the upright edges ,of the member 22 andconsequentlyA the, products fof combustion in addition to sweeping over the water tube I0 toheat'the water circulating in 'the tube; also sweepoverfthis ext-f posed wall s urface. of the water'tank so that heat is transmitted tojtheA water inthe tank.`

It will .b 'eseen from the foregoing that the por:- tion of thespace'between the tank Bi'and the casing A9 which immediately surrounds the'water tube IIJ is thus subdivided into-aA ue. The remaining portion of this space is iilled with suitable heatinsulating .material 29, it being noted .that thejlue Vis of .such size with respect to the width of the annular space IB'that. insulating l material maybe located .between the 'ue and casing as indicated at 30. Insulating materialis also provided. between the bottom of thetank and casing, as. indicated at 3| vand between the. top of the tank and casing'as indicated atp-"12.2v

A .t the topv of, the tanktheinner wall, of, the

ue ,is formed by a metallic member-3?V suitably secured. in place and spanningV the distance.Y between the'topof the tankand the top 34 Vof the casing. Anopening 35 of, the same'ljshape as the cross section of the ue is provided in the top 341 and aremovable cover 36. ispositioned over this opening. A The outlet 2l above referred to is located in the cover 36.`

i In the particular waterrheater illustrated inthe drawings, the watertank is approximately .60 inches high and has a capacity of'approximately Sogallone in which case; Lemploya water tube I0 of approximately of an inch in diameter, a

burner Vof approximately 1 inch in diameter and a nue measuring approximately 11/2 inches by 2% inches in cross section at the central portion.

' Thus I employ a long length of small diarneteredV Water Ypipe Yclosely adjacent the water `tank located in along insulated stack or ilue, through which theg'ases ofY combustion pass to sweepV over considerable surface area of the water tank r in addition tothek entire outside surface of the water tube, anda small size burner havingaY low input such as'2500 to 2600 B. t. u. per hour or ve cubic feet of 520 B. t. u. gasper hour. Thus, at

75 per 1000 cubicV feet with an input ofV 2600??" B. t. u..per hour and withthe burner burning without interruption during an entiremonth, the

consumption would be approximately 3600"cubic feet of gas at a cost of $2.70 -per month. f Ilhe sizes-and gas input given'in this Vexampleare calculated to effectually meet the hot water demands for the service for which a vtank of `the Y .given size vis. ordinarily employed.V Y o Y. `VThe gas input, of course, lmay be varied to suit conditions and may, .for example, be increased to V50,00 or 6000 B, t.`u. per hour or even higher Without running into any undesirable condition, such as a highercarbon'monoxide percentage in the air free products of combustion Ythan is allowed under the requirements of the A. G. A.

g for this class of appliance. 30

While I have illustrated a single .water tube Yl 0, it is to beunderstood that,.in some instances, I contemplate employing aV plurality thereof in upperandlower headers which, in turn, would Vbe connected-into the tank. f Y It isdesirable torpro'vide some kind of automatic device for controlling Vthe gas` supply and the arrangement andfdisposition ofthe control device I now to be described is particularly suitable for my improved heater. Y

The control mechanism I5Y is generallyconstructed in accordance with. my VPatent-No.

V ,1,953,446, issued April 3, 1934, and'comprisesa valve member -31 having a stem 38 extendingy into the casing'oflthe mechanism, the vvalve member being spring-urged to its closed position and being moved to itsiopenrposition uponactuation of the valve stem. The valve has a gas inlet T38 and a gas outlet 40 which leads tofthefburner AI3. A pilot 13a, receivingits gas directly from the main gas supply, is provided for igniting the burner. f

Y The Vcontrol device includes a snap'iarm 4l, Va

Vcompounding lever 42, a thermostatic device 43 operating on the leverY 42, and a safety V.lever 44 adapted to be operated by the' thermostatic device 45. 'Ihe snap arm is spring-connected to the Vlever 42.

`'I'he thermostaticjdevice`43 comprises ay tube 46 extending into the water tank and secured in asupport 41 carried by the tank, and a rod 48 located in theftube and secured .theretoat v49.

'Iherod148` extends into ,the casing of the control i mechanism and engages kthe lever 42 atV 50.

' 'I'he thermostatic device 45Vcomprises a tube n.il secured in the casing ofthe control mechai msm at 52, Yand a, Vma 53 10c-ated in the tube and .secured thereto at 54.V The rod 53 extends into the casing of the controlmechanismand engages the safetylever 44through the .medium of a Y i 'lever 55 pivoted at 56 and having its freegend 51 1 Vin engagement with the lever44, it beingnoted that by providing this arrangement I am enabled to dispose the thermostatic device A45 at 'an angle ,withrespect to the thermostatic device 43, as

, nism is as follows.

'is-cold, the tube 46 contracts, thus moving the u `1j :d4 8 :to the right, which, due to its contact with thelever 4 2 at 50, rocks the lever to the right. This moves the lower end of the spring 58 toward theright an .amount such that the spring creates i apull'own the upperY end o1' the arm 4I in a directint'ocafuse it to vsnap into the position shown `causes ignition of the'burner. Y

viewed in VFigure 2. Thus the thermostatic device 43 is disposed radially vof the tank'and is I directed toward and located below the cold water inlet pipe 1 which is extended well downwardly into the tank as shown in Figure l. The thermostatic device 45, however, is disposed tangentially of the tank and enters into the annular space between the tank and casing and terminates ata point closely adjacent the pilot I3ka where it is subjected tothe heat of the pilot flame'.

The operation ofY the automatic control mecha- When the water in the tank in dot-and-dashlines. Such movement ofV the usV ,snaparmrcauses it to move the valve stem 38 toV the left to open thevalve 31 and supply gas to the v' burner' I3 and, assuming that `the pilot-is When theV temperature ofthe water rises `predetermined value, the tubey 46 expands,- and sincethe rod 48 is attached to the tube at its free on thejlever 42 in'a direction tending-to move it to theleft, and therefore the .lever follows the rod `48. Y -WhenV the lever,Y moves in this direction ay predetermined amount the arm 4I is snapped intoits other position,.namely, that shown in full lines, this beingdue tothe shifting of kthe lower .end'of the spring to theleft. ,Thus the lower end portion ofthe snaparm permits the valve 31 Vto 1 1in, this end itmoves in a directionfaway fromthelever Y 427. `.-I'Iowever, the spring 58 is creating tension ,3.0 Y

snapinto vits closed Yposition to cut ofzthe lsupply Y of. gas to theburner. WhenV the water drops to a predetermined low `temperature theA valvelis opened in the manner above described, and so on. e-above operation isvwhat may be termed the service control of the heater.

The device is sopositioned thatV itstube'is subjected. toheat from the pilot 13a, and-there- .-fore. when the pilot islitthe tube expands and Vmoves, thev` rod 53 in. a direction away fromV the levers Y and 44,-whereby the `lever 44 assumes its `.positionfofnon-interference with the snap arm.

However, when the pilot is extinguished the tube 512 coolsand contracts, thus moving the rod 53 inits other direction, wherebyrthe liever 44 is swung to the right on its pivotand the projection 54Atherveof engages the arm 4I to move it Yto its full-line position and thereby hold or lock lt in the position in which theY valve 31 closes to cut off the supplyof gas tothe burner I 3; j

Itwill be `seen from the foregoing that I have provided a water heater -which is very compact, 4inexpensive to manufacture, and neat in appearance, andA one inv which it is asimple and inexpensive matter Vto replace parts, particularly the i water tube.'4

Although the gas consumption of the heater is heated, it being noted that only a small quantity of wateris circulated through the watery tube but with relatively rapid ilow."V Y

Ihafve found that this rapid flow ofV a'small quantity of water in anA arrangement such as Yshown in which the tube is closely adjacent the tank and located within an insulated ue of small cross'fsection and considerable length is an important factor serving to increase the reiliciency of small, the water is' nevertheless very effectively '65 my Water heater over other water heating appliances for domestic purposes.

I claim:

1. A Water heater comprising a Water tank, a vertical Water tube connected into the tank for circulation and extending in close parallel relation to the tank Wall, burner means below said Water tube, and means attached to the tank and providing with the adjacent wall portion of the tank a vertical flue in which said water tube is located, said means being generally semi-circular in cross-section, but having laterally extending portions for exposing additional Wall surface of the tank to the heat of the products of combustion in the ue.

2. A Water heater comprising a water tank, a Water tube connected into the tank for circulation and extending in close parallel relation to the tank wall, burner means below said Water tube, and means providing a flue in which said Water tube is located, said means having a central portion approximately semi-circular in cross-section in spaced relation tothe tube, and portions extending laterally from said central portion and contacting with the tank Wall at points spaced from said central portion to expose an extended area of tank Wall surface to the products of combustion in the flue.

ARCHIE HUGH STRONG. 

